College
Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine
Keywords
Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation, Vagus Nerve Stimulation, Parkinson's Disease, Gait Dysfunction, Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation
Date of Presentation
5-2-2024 12:00 AM
Poster Abstract
Background: Those suffering from Parkinson’s Disease often experience a shuffling gait, alongside many other symptoms, due to the degradation of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) operates by non-invasively applying an electrical current to the cutaneous receptive field formed by the auricular branch of the vagus nerve in the outer ear. We sought to determine if taVNS would serve as a non-invasive alternative to addressing Parkinson’s related gait dysfunction.
Purpose: This systematic review and meta-analysis analyzes the effectiveness of taVNS on the reduction of gait dysfunction caused by Parkinson’s Disease.
Methods: The systematic review and meta-analysis followed the 2020 PRISMA guidelines. Five online databases were screened (Embase, Cochrane, Web Of Science, Scopus, PubMed) for studies that included pre-treatment and post-treatment data of the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), gait speed, sway length, and stride length. After our screening process, 2 double-blinded randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included in the analysis. The meta-analysis was conducted using SPSS.
Results: After treatment with taVNS, there was a low, but clinically significant increase in walk speed (Cohen’s d = 0.34) and in stride length (Cohen’s d = 0.20). All other variables did not yield significant changes.
Conclusion: Our results suggest that taVNS is only partially effective in improving gait dysfunction related to Parkinson’s Disease, with slight increases in walk speed and stride length. However, with a sample size of only 20 patients, future RCTs with larger sample sizes are needed in order to truly solidify the yielded results. Additionally, further RCTs examining taVNS on gait dysfunction with a placebo group compared to an experimental group would be beneficial in analyzing the effectiveness of such a treatment modality.
Disciplines
Investigative Techniques | Medicine and Health Sciences | Nervous System Diseases | Neurology | Other Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment | Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms
DOI
10.31986/issn.2689-0690_rdw.stratford_research_day.213_2024
Included in
Investigative Techniques Commons, Nervous System Diseases Commons, Neurology Commons, Other Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment Commons, Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Commons
Analyzing the Effectiveness of Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Parkinson’s Disease Related Gait Function: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Background: Those suffering from Parkinson’s Disease often experience a shuffling gait, alongside many other symptoms, due to the degradation of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) operates by non-invasively applying an electrical current to the cutaneous receptive field formed by the auricular branch of the vagus nerve in the outer ear. We sought to determine if taVNS would serve as a non-invasive alternative to addressing Parkinson’s related gait dysfunction.
Purpose: This systematic review and meta-analysis analyzes the effectiveness of taVNS on the reduction of gait dysfunction caused by Parkinson’s Disease.
Methods: The systematic review and meta-analysis followed the 2020 PRISMA guidelines. Five online databases were screened (Embase, Cochrane, Web Of Science, Scopus, PubMed) for studies that included pre-treatment and post-treatment data of the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), gait speed, sway length, and stride length. After our screening process, 2 double-blinded randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included in the analysis. The meta-analysis was conducted using SPSS.
Results: After treatment with taVNS, there was a low, but clinically significant increase in walk speed (Cohen’s d = 0.34) and in stride length (Cohen’s d = 0.20). All other variables did not yield significant changes.
Conclusion: Our results suggest that taVNS is only partially effective in improving gait dysfunction related to Parkinson’s Disease, with slight increases in walk speed and stride length. However, with a sample size of only 20 patients, future RCTs with larger sample sizes are needed in order to truly solidify the yielded results. Additionally, further RCTs examining taVNS on gait dysfunction with a placebo group compared to an experimental group would be beneficial in analyzing the effectiveness of such a treatment modality.
